Unable to contain her surprise, Jyo screamed. Her eyes traveled down her body, and they grew wider and more frantic. The night dress suddenly seemed looser. She clutched at the window sill, her hands shaking.

'It is all part of the plan, Jyo.'

The old man's voice floated up behind her. Jyo was too shocked, she did not hear the old man's whisper. It was only after she heard the clutter of feet and drawing of swords, than she realized the guards were roused.

The old man!

Jyo turned towards the window. The old man looked at her solemnly, his eyes vanishing into the heavy white eyebrows.

'All part of the plan, Jyo. Twenty-nine days from I will find my last disciple in the plains, you will come to Kon-Ron Mountain and climb it after twenty-nine days. I will be waiting for you at the summit, Jyo.' 'What is going on in there!?' Guards knocked on her door roughly.

Jyo dared not speak immediately. She felt her throat, and squeezed it tightly.

'Nothing…Nothing ! I just had a bad dream. Go away! I am going to sleep. Now go!'

She squeezed her throat again, feeling something bob against her palm.

'All part of the plan, Jyo.'

This was the third time the old man spoke of the plan. Jyo's mind finally registered. She waited till the guards left, and turned to the window again.

'What.. What plan?'

The old man chuckled and stroked the silvery hair of the hovering creature slowly.

'I should start calling you Fugen now, Jyo. The plan? You will know of the plan once you ascend Kon-Ron Mountain and become an immortal, Fugen. You will have to leave this place and reach Kon Ron on the twenty ninth day, Fugen. If you miss the date, you will return back to your old life.'

'I will change back?' Jyo asked instantly, her hands clenching. Her hands were still slim and dainty, but the roughness was apparent. Jyo continued, looking at the old man in the dawing sunlight. 'To a girl again?'

'To a female again, and be in this place forever, Fugen. Do you want that?' A man. Powers. A chance to find Kai. A chance to stop Ginyuu. A chance to save Kaa.

A woman. Powerless. And nothing.

But how can she face Kai as a man?

Jyo fought the dilemma in her mind. The old man did not make any sound. Somehow he knew she was caught in this quandary. Genshitenson waited. The dawn came almost too slowly, as if too waiting for Jyo's decision.

'Will I have powers to change back?'

Jyo looked up slowly, the wind blowing past her short cropped hair. Genshitenson looked at her in the eye.

'You will be able to attain that power, Fugen. But then.' Genshitenson murmured. 'You might not want to return to being a female again.'

'I will want to become a female again.' Jyo insisted, her voice suddenly heated. 'I will become your disciple and part of the plan, you keep talking about. And I will attain the powers to change myself back to a female.' Jyo's head bowed and she fell into a whisper to herself. 'I cannot let Kai see me like this….'

Genshitenson's eyebrow arched slowly as he heard her murmur. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. The creature glanced up at the old man.

'Goshujin-sama. It is time to go back-su.'

The old man nodded in reply. The creature bowed its head and hovered upwards. The sudden rush of air against her face jerked Jyo out of her reverie.

'Wait!' She cried, leaning out of the window. 'You made me a man, what am I supposed to do now? I cannot face people like this?'

The creature stopped in mid-air. Genshitenson glanced down at Jyo.

'Goshujin-sama, you are not thinking of…?'

'I will give him a simple pao-pei for now, Su-pu. By twenty-nine days, he will be able to withstand the doushi training I have in mind for all of my fifteen disciples.'

'I understand-su, Goshujin-sama.'

'Fugen.' The old man took out a shimmering ring from his sleeve. 'This is a mikagami-yubiwa, a pao-pei made of water. It can do simple illusions. Now, you will have to learn on your own how to use this. Genshitenson tossed the ring down. Jyo caught in between her cupped palms. The ring was very heavy. Her muscles shuddered to bear the weight of the ornament.

'Why is it so heavy?' Jyo looked up at Genshitenson, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She could not even hold it with one hand. Jyo's arms trembled. It was too heavy, she have to set it down somewhere.

'You are not even a doushi yet, Fugen.' The old man chuckled. 'You will have to learn to use it, if you want to keep your identity hidden.'

'I can't even hold it up!' Jyo cried. She set the ring upon the window, half-thinking that the stone underneath the ring will crack. As if guessing Jyo's thoughts, Genshitenson laughed.

'This pao-pei will only react to living things, Fugen. Figure out how to use it. You have a certain intelligence in these things, Fugen. That is why I chose you.'

Jyo looked the ring dubiously. Swallowing hard, she picked it up again, with both hands. It was as hard as trying to heave a stone block. She pushed the ring onto her middle finger. The excruciating pain nearly blinded her and she tottered backwards, feeling as if her finger was going to be torn off at any moment. Biting her lower lip fiercely to bear the throbbing protest in her muscles, Jyo pulled herself up and faced the old man hovering outside the window, her face set in a white mask of resolution.

Genshintenson nodded. 'Farewell, Fugen. Till twenty-nine days later.'

Jyo followed the old man's departure with glazed eyes. Her look turned back down upon the dull stone ring on her finger. Somehow, somewhat, for these twenty-nine days, she will have pretend to be a female.